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Before 1995 it was all local. Then came high technique and foreign expertise with Ana Punchihewa's vision. And with it Sri Lankan born Australian coach, Dav Whatmore.

Whatmore it was who breathed new meaning into the game in drilling our boys to meeting the high demands of international cricket. More than anything in the one-day form which has made colossal strides internationally. Before long, on the back of Whatmore's tutelage Sri Lankan cricket rode to a crestwave of success, winning the World Cup in 1996 being the high point.

Much of that success was also due to then captain, Arjuna Ranatunga's tenacious leadership as much as manager, Duleep Mendis's brainchild of innovation which saw the advent of the Sanath Jayasuriya-Romesh Kaluwitharana opening combination which turned one-day cricket topsy turvey. But Whatmore took much of the cake for honing a winning unit.

But soon after, the same year saw the controversial exit of Whatmore reportedly due to not seeing eye to eye with the cricket authorities to take up a new assignment of coaching English county, Lancashire. And he did so with aplomb. That year Lancashire for the first time won the county championship.

Next Roy Dias filled the vacant shoes. But back came Whatmore like a lost messiah when a strife torn Cricket Board under its first interim committee resought his services in the shake up after the 1999 World Cup debacle. And once again under a new skipper in Jayasuriya Sri Lanka got back to winning ways before a telling decline in the last 2 years or so ahead of next year's World Cup has already prompted whispering of new names for the job with a seeming loss of faith in the once much talked of Whatmore magic formula.

Has it been an erosion in coaching skills worsened by discord among some players complaining of camps in the team where the grapevine has it that the coach is no exception.

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